An Assessment of MHI's Pilot Project
The Maternal Health Initiative (MHI) delivered a pilot project from July 2023 to January 2024 across six hospitals in the Northern Region of Ghana. This work was conducted in partnership with Norsaac and the Ghana Health Service.
MHI would like to share the results of its internal assessment of this project based on an analysis of the baseline and endline data collected through the pilot.
Executive Summary
- In this project, the Maternal Health Initiative (MHI) and Norsaac worked together to implement a programme aiming to increase contraceptive knowledge and uptake. This programme focused on training nurses and midwives on delivering an adjusted model of contraceptive counselling integrated into routine postpartum appointments.
- This was a pilot project in which we aimed to compare the value of one-to-one family planning counselling during routine postnatal care sessions (PNC) against the value of short messaging and family planning referral integrated into child welfare clinic sessions (CWC)
- Endline data suggests that the PNC program produced an increase in contraceptive uptake, with no clear change observed in the CWC program. Due to inconsistencies between data sources and overall data quality concerns, we have low confidence in the extent of positive impact from either program.
- Research prompted by our pilot results suggests that contraceptive uptake in the early postpartum period may be significantly less valuable than expected. This is due to the high level of pregnancy prevention many women are likely gaining from unexpectedly high rates of breastfeeding and sexual abstinence.
- Based on the results presented in this report alongside further research and engagement with experts, we conclude that neither project is worth further implementation or scaling at this time.
Full Report
For more detail about the project and its outcomes, please refer to the full project report below.
